[closed / incomplete]
WHO: Renji Abarai [rukongai_dog] and Luke fon Fabre [replica_dreck] and the Disreputable Dog [walker_dog]
WHAT: After Renji’s upset journal entry, Luke shows up to give some comfort.
WHERE: Renji’s home
WHEN: Late night, after the clinic fire
( Renji may be miserable and Luke may not know how to immediately fix it, but hell if he was going to leave Renji alone in his misery. )
WHAT: After Renji’s upset journal entry, Luke shows up to give some comfort.
WHERE: Renji’s home
WHEN: Late night, after the clinic fire
( Renji may be miserable and Luke may not know how to immediately fix it, but hell if he was going to leave Renji alone in his misery. )
Comments 72
I am fucking scum.He'd stumbled home through the rain, come in through the back door and flopped over on the loveseat in the living room, avoiding as much as possible the places where he and Byakuya ( ... )
Reply
After a moment, Luke stepped forward and wound his arms around Renji in a hug. “Everything will work out,” Luke mumbled again, though it was likely obvious it was just his own uninformed hopes.
It was a short-lived hug, because Luke stepped away after just a moment. Renji was in no shape to do anything, so Luke just decided he could take over. He shut the door and tugged off his mud-riddled shoes, before turning back to Renji with a reassuring smile. “You don’t just get to stay wet,” he said with a light lilt in his voice. “You’ll get sick! Not to mention the tangles that will set in.”
Reply
The clear sorrow, the scent of loss - it was all too familiar to the Dog. And in the years she had spent in the company of her Mistress, she had learned that sometimes, the best thing in a situation like this was something warm to hold. Something that loved you unconditionally.
And if there was anything the Dog was good at, it was unconditional love.
So when that map appeared in the journals - though she hadn't been the one it had been meant for - she couldn't stop herself from following it, from tracking through the rain and finding a house. Disreputable Dog, after all - invitations weren't really her thing.
The door had just closed, before she could stick her nose or a paw in, so she raised a paw and dragged her claws gently down the wood, just enough to make an audible scratching sound over the sound of the rain. Hopefully, someone would let her in - and not quite mind the smell of wet dog.
Reply
Luke felt comfortable against his chest when they hugged, and Renji's arms came around the boy's chest, returning the gesture. It was more than he expected of himself. When Like pulled away, though, Renji stood awkwardly, not entirely sure what to do with any of his limbs.
A clawing sort of sound drew his exhausted attention, and Renji opened the door up again before he could think about it.
There, in front of the door, was a large, black, wet dog. The corners of Renji's mouth turned up slightly. He loved dogs. He was so like them. Kneeling on the balls of his feet, knees not touching the ground, he scratched behind the dog's ears.
"Come to help me, too, eh?" he murmured to the dog.
[ooc: That's alright! Gotta love the Disreputable Dog. ^^ Obviously, some of this tag is to you and some to Luke, buuuuut... XD]
Reply
It was endearing that even the dogs of this world had come to do what they could for Renji’s sorrow. Not a big surprise, of course, considering what a guy Renji was.
Luke shot a grin to the dog, before leaving Renji in care of one Disreputable Dog. “I’ll grab some towels, then,” he announced. Though he didn’t know anything of Renji’s home, he padded off in search of towels, letting the dog work his magic on Renji.
[ooc: CUTEDOG. xD ]
Reply
Then, she rested her head gently on his shoulder, took a deep breath, and sighed softly.
"You seemed to need it," she said quietly - forgetting, for a moment, that these people hadn't ever heard her talk, might not even know she could, in fact. "Your scent, it was...sad."
Reply
"You should dry off first," she advised. "You'll catch sick if you stay all wet and cold like that. I'll be all right for a little while longer. Fur, you know."
With a satisfied nod, she turned her attention to Luke, her tail wagging furiously and a grin spreading across her muzzle. She loved meeting new people, and this one definitely smelled friendly.
"Of course I can talk," she said simply. "I'm the Disreputable Dog - or the Disreputable Bitch, if you want to get technical."
She gave no more explanation than that - she never did. And it always seemed to be just enough for people to shrug and scratch her behind the ears.
Ooh, scratching - that sounded really good right now. She flopped down onto her hindquarters and lifted a back paw to scratch furiously at her neck, just above her collar.
Reply
That was funny, Renji noticed dimly.
He took the towel Luke and place awkwardly on his shoulder and rubbed his hair with it violently. When his head emerged again, his hair was messy and sticking up in all tangled directions, but at least it didn't drip.
"Guess'll go... get changed, then," Renji mumbled, pulling his shirt off over his head before he'd even turned towards the bathroom. His years and years of living on the streets had acclimatized him to a lack of privacy, and so he didn't even notice that he was stripping all the way to his underwear as he walked away down the hall, before he was even out of sight. His bold, black tribal tattoos gleamed with rain his chest and back, and the newest additions on his thighs peeked out from underneath the hem of his boxers.
He turned into the bathroom and locked himself in, and there were five quiet seconds before a crash. He'd kicked the door.
Reply
At Renji’s mumble, Luke’s attention had been drawn up, a tint of a flush growing on his cheeks as his gaze followed his manager. Was it... okay? To just strip like that? And... where did his tattoos go? A bit more red on his cheeks, he turned back to the dog, scratching at her ear and trying to avoid his embarrassment.
That, of course, was until he heard the crash. Embarrassment was forgotten and he turned to the bathroom door, flinching. “Renji,” he mumbled sadly. After a particular sigh, Luke raised his tone, shouting back, “No breaking the door!” Because he really didn't want to have to watch Renji change anymore than he already had.
Reply
Reply
"Truly? How very curious. I don't think there is much of a correlation in my world. Although..."
She thought for a moment. "The Clayr all generally have light hair and eyes and darker skin. And the Abbhorsen all have pale skin and dark hair, but that's because they're generally all related. And the job, of course, saps much of the color and vitality from their skin..."
She trailed off vaguely, hardly realizing that she'd been musing aloud. Then she reoriented herself and focused on Luke again.
"Where are you from, sir?"
Reply
“Ah, I’m from Auldrant, but I think it’s just my kingdom, Kimlasca, that has that belief about red hair. The entire royal family is redheads, of course.” Absently, he scratched the side of his cheek in thought, before turning back to Renji’s hair, still slowly working the brush up. “Malkuth might have a history of their Emperors being blond, but I’m not really sure...”
Carefully, possibly hoping to let the conversation distract him from his depression, Luke turned the question onto his manager. “What about where you’re from, Renji?”
Reply
"We certainly ain't got that redhead thing in Soul Society," he said with bleak humor. "I grew up an orphan and a streetrat. Lucky I had enough reiatsu..." He realized this word may have no meaning for either the Dog or the boy. "...um, spiritual pressure? To become a Soul Reaper. Crawled my way up from there."
He didn't elaborate. The story was long and graphic, and he didn't feel like telling it. That was enough answer.
Reply
"My Mistress..." she paused for a moment, wondering if she was perhaps making a mistake. Well, only one thing for it. "She never fit in, either. She was the daughter of both the Clayr and the Abhorsen - but that pale skin and those dark eyes appear to be dominant traits; she grew up in the Clayr's Glacier looking nothing like any of the others. And she never possessed the Sight, either - the one thing that made any Clayr a Clayr, no matter their appearance."
"Still," she murmured, laying her head down on her forepaws again, "she found her family in the end. And her place. And love. The love she thought she would never know."
She gave a soft chuckle. "How silly sadness makes us - thinking that things will never be bright again."
Reply
Still, Luke's comment made her smile.
"I think you are correct," she murmured. "When one has love, the whole world seems just a little bit brighter. Life seems a little easier to live. And you feel as if you've suddenly found the place where you belong."
Her tail thumped heavily against the loveseat, a soft, steady rhythm in counterpoint to the sound of raindrops on the windowpanes.
Reply
Love... was quite something. A bit dully, the Dog’s words made him realize that Byakuya was likely as depressed about leaving as Renji was depressed about being left. A darker world, harder to live, with seemingly no place... Without a doubt, they would both be happy when they got back together.
It seemed so obvious.
After a glance to the Dog, Luke looked back to Renji with a small soft grin, “I think you’ve got guests for tonight.”
Reply
"Fine by me," he replied quietly, beginning to rather enjoy the feeling of Luke's fingers in his hair. It reminded him of something he couldn't place. "Thanks for comin', you guys. Botha you."
Reply
"Of course," she said simply. "How could we not?"
And then she leaped down, lightly, from the loveseat and shook herself vigorously. At least she was dry now, she thought, as she gave a jaw cracking yawn, tongue curling.
Reply
Leave a comment